The Mad Hunt
by Wildwolf711
Summary: Tony Zucco has escaped from prison to Dick Grayson's dismay. On top of that, Dick has the normal teenage drama to deal with. Life as a young crime-fighter is never easy.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the character Dick Grayson (Robin), Bruce Wayne (Batman) or Alfred. They belong to DC comics.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading this and I hope you like it!

**The Mad Hunt**

"Master Richard, breakfast is ready!" Alfred called.

"Just one minute Alf!" Dick shouted back from his room.

Dick Grayson was in the middle of reading something very important and could not stop now. The article made him cringe more and more the further he read. His worst fear had just become a reality. Tony Zucco, the man responsible for killing his parents, had escaped from prison. He had his gang take on some of the guards. The commotion was so great no one noticed Zucco slip away it seemed. Some people were already waiting for him outside the prison wall. There was a loud explosion when part of the prison wall was blown up. Zucco hopped into a van and the van drove away. Nobody knew where he currently was.

'Great, just great!' Dick thought to himself. 'The man who killed my parents is free again! And to make matters worse, he'll probably be out for my blood!'

Tony Zucco had wanted to kill all three of the Graysons. He was furious when he found out a nine-year-old survived. When Zucco had a job to do he liked to do it right. When someone lives when he wanted them to die, that makes Tony Zucco angry; especially when it was just a kid.

"Master Richard, you'll be late for school if you don't come out to eat now!" Alfred yelled outside Dick's bedroom door. Just what was taking the boy so long?

"I'm coming!" Dick quickly shut off his laptop and shoved it under his bed.

Dick headed to the breakfast table. Bruce was already there, busy reading some papers probably for work. Dick figured he would have slept in today because he was out very late as Batman. Dick wasn't allowed to go out as Robin because the case Bruce was working on would take practically all night. It was a murder case with very little evidence pointing to anyone. Dick wondered if Bruce had ever found who was responsible.

Dick took his usual seat at the table. Bruce glanced up at him once and went back to reading. Alfred put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Dick. The boy smiled gratefully and started eating.

Breakfast was quiet but it was usually that way. Dick chose not to tell Alfred or Bruce about Tony Zucco. He didn't want them to worry and besides, if Bruce knew Zucco was out there he may not let Dick go out as Robin for fear of Zucco going after him. Of course Dick could defend himself but Bruce was just overprotective about these things.

"Something wrong Dick?" Bruce had now put the papers aside and was looking directly at his ward.

"No, why?" Dick asked as he continued to pick at his eggs.

"Alright," Bruce said and started to look over the papers again.

In the next hour, Dick was ready for school. Alfred drove him to school like usual. They arrived at Charles High School. It was a private school for boys. Dick hated it because it was full of snobby rich kids who weren't always nice to someone who grew up in the circus. Dick also hated how they had to wear uniforms. The worst parts of the uniforms were the ties. Dick hated how it went around your throat. He felt like his was wearing a dog collar and somebody could grab the end of his tie like a leash or something.

Dick had begged Bruce not to make him go to Charles School again but Bruce insisted private school was best. He would receive a 'proper education'at this school. Also he could study freely away from other distractions that public schools had (when Bruce said _distractions_, Dick was pretty sure he was talking about girls).

Dick climbed out of the car and waved goodbye to Alfred. Alfred smiled and drove off. Dick secretly wished he could go with Alfred.

His first class was Geometry. He found out he received a 70% on his test. Bruce would not be pleased. Dick usually did very well in school but Geometry did not go well for him. He didn't like Geometry and only had taken it because Bruce had wanted him to. Now he wished he didn't listen to Bruce on this one.

After class the teacher, Mrs. Norman, asked to see Dick. He nodded and walked over to the teacher's desk. She pointed to the chair and told him to take a seat. Dick's stomach felt uneasy. He obeyed and waited for the teacher to speak.

"Dick, you are a brilliant young man and I know you are very good in all your classes," Mrs. Norman began. "You always make at least Honor Role and you are in several AP classes. You always turn in your homework, have a perfect attendance record since you started Charles High School last year and received very good comments on your last report card."

"Um, thank you Mrs. Norman," he replied.

'Why does this creepy lady know so much about me? If she is a stalker, I'm really upset because I always have dreamed of having an attractive teenage girl as my stalker, not a middle-aged married lady,' thought Dick.

"Dick, I don't think you are really trying in my class," Mrs. Norman announced.

"Oh, I'm sorry I made you think that," he said quietly.

'Here comes the lecture!'

"You are not giving your best effort. I think you're being lazy in my class. I know you're smart, young man and I really do expect more from you. I don't tolerate slackers, understand?" Mrs. Norman scolded.

"I do Mrs. Norman," he murmured.

"First quarter grades are due in two weeks. You better shape up soon or you'll get a lower grade than you should," Mrs. Norman chastised.

"Of course but Mrs. Norman, I really am having a hard time in this class," the boy admitted.

"I hate liars Dick!" she roared. "If you are telling the truth, then I'm sure we can arrange some after school sessions with me. I'll call your guardian and arrange it."

'Oh no, don't get Bruce involved with this!' Dick thought.

"I'll do better Mrs. Norman. I promise I'll study every night. Please just don't call Bruce," he begged.

"Then you better shape up or I'm calling Mr. Wayne about after school sessions," Mrs. Norman threatened.

"Thanks Mrs. Norman. I will," he promised and then slipped out of the room.

The worst part was that he forgot to get a pass and was late to Science. His teacher gave him a lunch detention. Lunch fifth period wasn't too fun for Dick. He spent the whole time doing homework while the teacher seemed to be glaring up at Dick from his paperwork.

To end off the day, Dick had a run in with the school bully, Lawrence. Lawrence and his group of goons shoved him around in the halls until his 12th grade friend stepped in. Dick's friend was named Matt. He really liked Dick for some reason and thought he was cool even though Dick was only a 10th grader.

"You alright?" Matt had asked after Lawrence and his buddies left.

"Yeah, thanks for saving my butt yet again." If only Bruce let him use his Robin skills on bullies at school but that wouldn't be fair and may blow his cover as Bruce had told him many times before.

Matt laughed. "Anytime buddy. Hey some guys and I are gonna grab some pizza after school, you in? I'm driving now that my parents finally gave me my own car."

"I'm sorry but Bruce wants me to come home right after school to do homework." The real reason was Bruce wanted him in the cave for training even before Bruce got home from work.

"Come on dude, you're 16 now. Just live a little for once! He won't know anything," urged Matt.

"I guess it won't hurt this once," Dick agreed.

"Awesome, just meet my friends and me in the parking lot right after school," Matt told him.

Dick smiled and headed to his 9th period class. His smile though quickly turned into a frown. He had forgotten that Alfred drove him back home after school! What was he going to tell Alfred?

'Maybe I can just lie to Alfred,' he thought to himself. 'I can just say I have a project to do after school with some guys.'

Dick hated lying to Alfred but it was just a onetime thing. Alfred would never even know he was lying. There was nothing to it. He would just call Alfred before school ended and everything would work out. At least Dick hoped so.

Halfway through 9th period Dick asked to go to the bathroom. The teacher agreed and Dick quickly went out the door. He walked to his locker, opened it and pulled out his cell phone. He quickly checked to make sure no teachers were around and dialed the manor.

"Hello?" came a polite British voice on the other end.

"Hey Alf, it's Dick," he greeted.

"Master Richard, what are you doing calling me in the middle of 9th period? You should be in class. Does your teacher know you are on your cell phone?" Alfred asked.

"Um, yeah. Listen, I have a project to do here after school with some guys. One of them is going to bring me home too so you don't have to come get me." Dick looked around again to make sure no one was watching him.

"Very well then. I don't like you calling me during class though," Alfred replied. "When should we expect you home?"

"I'm not sure. I got to go Alf. See ya," Dick said quickly and hung up the phone. He shoved the phone back in his locker and headed to class.

After school Dick met Matt in the parking lot. Matt was with three other guys. There were two 12th graders named John and Greg. Dick was happy to see another 10th grader. The 10th grader was a fairly quiet boy in his English class named Virgil.

"There you are Dick. Hop in," Matt announced.

They all then drove off in Matt's red sports car. They arrived at a pizza shop. Dick had a good time. The five of them talked a bit and the others were nice enough. After they were finished it was four o'clock. Dick was ready to go home by then because he didn't want Alfred to grow suspicious. He asked to go home but Greg said he wasn't ready to go home yet.

"I want to check out this store in the mall," Greg explained.

"Sounds cool," Matt replied. "Let's go."

Dick rolled his eyes. Hadn't they heard him when he said he needed to get home? He decided to go along anyway though. It couldn't hurt and besides, it was nice to get out. Dick didn't even remember the last time he was able to hang out with friends like a normal kid. Between school, Robin and training down in the cave, he usually never had time for other things.

The five teens all climbed back into Matt's car. They began to drive like normal. The radio was blaring, the boys chatted and they were cruising down the highway. Everything was going fine until Dick heard a siren in the background. All the boys turned around and saw a police car tailing them. Dick gulped. This would not be good.

Matt pulled the car over and turned off the radio. It grew very quiet as a police officer approached them. The officer informed them that they had run a stop sign. He requested to see Matt's license. Matt obliged and handed over his license from his wallet. The policeman took a good look at it and gave it back to him.

"Since you're only 17, I'm going to have to call your parents about this," the officer announced. The officers looked at the other boys in the car besides Matt. "I will arrange to have your parents pick you all up too."

'This is wonderful,' Dick thought. 'The man who killed my parents is free, I am doing horribly in science, I got a lunch detention and now I'm probably gonna be grounded. All I say is _life sucks_!'


End file.
